The health benefits of Vinotherapy- do the claims have merit?

Over on our blog, The Alcohol Professor, Becca Yeamans-Irwin investigates the extraordinary case of Amar’e Stoudemire’s medicinal red wine soaks. The New York Knicks player swears by the therapeutic benefits of soaking in a hot bath filled with red wine and says that it improves the circulation of red blood cells in his body. Is there science to back up this curious practice? Or is it simply just an enjoyably extravagant spa gimmick?

Intrigued, Becca tried to contact Caudalie Paris, a husband and wife research association responsible for most of the scientific evidence about vinotherapy, but didn’t hear back. Although they do hold several patents on isolations of various constituents found in red wine, they have not made their research papers available to the public. However, Becca was still able to dig up some healthy red wine facts.

She writes that red wine contains several chemicals that are scientifically proven to be beneficial to human health when consumed in concentrated doses. It is well known that these antioxidants pack a punch in terms of overall health, but can they really be absorbed through the skin? Or is it perhaps the hot temperature of the tub and the 80 minute massage that follows that are the real culprits?